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How does soap work???

How does soap work???

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Answer #1

Pretty much it’s a chemical reaction.

Soaps are usually made of sodium or potassium fatty acids salts, produced from the hydrolysis of fats in a chemical reaction called saponification. Water activates soap and then the soap particles can’t mix with other things like grease, dirt, etc. so soap goes on your skin and pushes them off and they attach to the water and go down the drain =] The bubbles you see are a chemical reaction between soap and water.

I’m pretty sure thats how it works. Hope I helped =]

Answer #2

thank you!! I’ve been curious abt it for a while :)

Answer #3

Soap works by interacting with the oil on your skin. Much of the dirt that collects on your body is there because it has adhered to the natural oils of your skin. Rubbing the dirt off doesn’t work because this oil is very sticky. Simply washing it off with water might get some, but since water and oil do not mix, most of it will stay put.

Soap molecules come in a long chain, one end positively charged, the other negatively charged. It just so happens that oil and water are also positively and negatively charged, which is why they have such a hard time mingling. So the soap forms a bridge between the two substances. Once they are attached to each other, more water can wash them away.

It’s important to note that water is the key to making soap work. Rubbing soap on dirt by itself isn’t going to clean anything.

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